2026 Azad Kashmiri general election

Following the 2021 elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 32 seats, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won 12 seats, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) won 7 seats. The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) also bagged a seat each.^[8]

The PTI comfortably formed a majority government with 32 out of 53 seats, electing Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi as the region's Prime Minister. The party also clinched the offices of Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and President, electing Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, Riaz Gujar, and Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, respectively. Less than a year later, on 14 April 2022, following a resolution of a vote of no-confidence by 25 members from his own party, Niazi resigned his office. The movers of the resolution accused him of "loss of the trust of the parliamentary party, failure to highlight Kashmir issue and implement party manifesto in addition to bad or good governance, nepotism and violation of merit".^[9][10][11]

He was replaced by Tanveer Ilyas Khan, the president of PTI's regional chapter, who was elected on 18 April 2022. However, on 11 April 2023, similar to his predecessor, Khan ceased to be Prime Minister less than a year later when he was disqualified by the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir after being found guilty of contempt of court. He also ceased to be a member of the assembly, rendering his seat vacant.^[12][13][14]

Khan was replaced by Haq, the Speaker of the Assembly, who was elected unopposed to the Prime Minister's office on 20 April 2023. Haq created his own forward bloc of the PTI consisting of 12 members, and subsequently formed a coalition government with the PPP and PML(N).^[15][16][17]

Following defections from the PTI's forward bloc, the PPP and PML(N) increased their number of seats to 29 and 9, respectively. The PTI now only had 13 members, with eight of them being part of the forward bloc. On 17 November 2025, Haq was ousted through a motion of no confidence that was supported by the 36 members of the Assembly affiliated with the PPP and PML(N).^[18]

On the same day, he was replaced by Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, who was elected to the Assembly as a member of the PPP. The PPP formed a majority government in the region for the first time since 2016.^[19][20] The PML(N) and the PTI, including members of the forward bloc, remained on the opposition benches.^{[21][18][21][22]}

On 5 June 2026, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission (AJKEC) announced the schedule for the election, setting 27 July 2026 as the polling date. Candidates filed nomination papers from 9 to 19 June, scrutiny was carried out from 20 June, and candidates filed appeals on rejections and acceptances of nomination papers from 21 to 24 June. Appeals were heard on 26 and 27 June, and decisions were made from 28 to 29 June. Candidates were allowed to withdraw their candidacies until 30 June. The list of contesting candidates were published on 1 July, and electoral symbols were allotted on 2 July.^[23]

On 2 July 2026, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that it would boycott the election, citing the political and social unrest in the region.^[6][7][24]

On 21 July 2026, the AJKEC announced a revision of the election's schedule, where polling would now take place in three phases. Polling will be held in Mirpur Division on 27 July, in Muzaffarabad Division and 12 refugee seats in the rest of Pakistan on 2 August, and in Poonch Division on 10 August. In a press conference, Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, the Chief Election Commissioner, cited the need to ensure the availability of army personnel to provide security during the polling process. He further stated that this new stage-wise polling process was decided after consulting with participating political parties.^[3][25]

The table below lists all parties that won seats in the 2021 elections, except for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has boycotted the 2026 elections.^{[18][21][26][6]}

The tables below show the results of the elections. The first table shows the results for the elections across all 24 constituencies, and shows each political party's standing after independents joining different parties and the allotment of reserved seats. The latter three tables show more detailed results for each of the 45 constituencies, separated by polling dates.^[2]

During the first phase of elections, PPP and the Sindh Local Governments Minister Saeed Ghani accused the PML-N of being behind the killing of a PPP worker in Kotli, Mukhtar Younus who was shot during polling in Nikyal. Ghani stated that the firing came from the PML-N candidate's side. He also criticised the election commission's handling of polls. The Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari claimed that PML-N workers had discovered bags containing "ballot papers" at the residence of a PPP candidate. She also claimed that some individuals fled with bags with "bogus votes" to help PPP win.^[60]

On 3 August, Sindh minister Sharjeel Inam Memon accused the federal government, the region's Election Commission and the PML-N of colluding to influence the Legislative Assembly elections, alleging widespread irregularities and voter manipulation. He alleged that the Election Commission ignored PPP's complaints. Memon also questioned the commission's decision to postpone polling in LA-27, saying weather had been cited as the reason despite "clear conditions."^[61]

The first phase of the election had a voter turnout of 46 percent.^[62]

During the second phase, the election officials claimed a turnout of nearly 50 percent amid JKJAAC's boycott call. However, the turnout was less than the 60 percent and above figure recorded in the 2021 and 2016 elections.^[62]

• 2026 Gilgit Baltistan Assembly election